MIDDLETOWN — A middle school teacher in Bloomfield has been charged in connection with a violent sexual assault that police say took place in a women's bathroom at East Haddam's Grange Hall last month.

Dale Kukucka, 35, of Hebron Road in Andover turned himself in Thursday afternoon when he learned there was a warrant for his arrest, state police said. He is charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault, second-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful restraint and third-degree assault.

According to the warrant, the victim told police that on Oct. 19 she attended a fife-and-drum muster outside the Grange Hall, and that sometime before midnight, while people were gathered around a bonfire outside, she went into the hall to use the bathroom. There was no one else in the building at the time, the warrant states.

As the victim was washing her hands, a man suddenly grabbed her neck with one hand and put the other over her mouth, the warrant says. She struggled against the attacker, breaking a window with her elbow, and then lost consciousness, according to the warrant.

When the victim awoke, her bra had been pulled up and she had sustained injuries to her nose, forehead, neck and an upper front tooth, the warrant states.

Two witnesses heard the struggle in the bathroom and went inside, where they found the victim, bloodied, with a man laying on top of her, the warrant says. One witness told police the man had both hands under the front of the victim's shirt.

The man, later identified by police as Kukucka, allegedly fought with one of the witnesses who attempted to take him to the ground, then left through the front door of the hall.

When state police investigating the alleged assault contacted Kukucka, he said he was hanging out by the bonfire most of the evening and didn't hear about anything unusual happening after the event, the warrant states.

Kukucka is a science teacher at Carmen Arace Middle School in Bloomfield. School officials were made aware of his impending arrest Thursday, according to Jacqueline Jacoby, interim chief operating officer.

"We found out on Thursday and placed him on paid administrative leave," Jacoby said. "We had no idea what the issues were."

Jacoby said that Kukucka was hired last August and that the district conducted the usual background checks and found no issues.

"We did all the procedural things we're supposed to do," she said.

According to the warrant, Kukucka was arrested on Aug. 7, 2012, and charged with breach of peace following an incident in which he allegedly kissed an 18-year-old woman against her will and put his hands under her shirt in an attempt to touch her breasts. Court records show that that case is scheduled for disposition on Dec. 18.

In March 2013, Kukucka was charged with driving under the influence after a motor vehicle stop in Glastonbury, town police said.

Donald Harris, chairman of the Bloomfield Board of Education, said Friday it was his understanding that the drunken-driving charge did not come to light until after Kukucka was hired and that the school's principal and someone from the human resources department met with him to discuss the incident.

Harris said he expects that the school district will make changes to its background check procedures immediately.

Kukucka also worked for Monroe public schools from 2005 to 2007, Superintendent James Agostine said Friday. Agostine said he was not superintendent at the time and was not aware of the circumstances of his departure.

Kukucka was processed at the Troop K barracks in Colchester and was in custody early Friday on $500,000 bail. He was arraigned in Superior Court in Middletown at noon, where a judge left bail at that amount, citing the seriousness of the charges.

He was ordered to stay 100 yards away from the victim. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 19.